The present disclosure relates generally to biomaterial platforms. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to a system and methods for preparing photo-patterned hydrogel-containing multiwell plate designs. The system and methods of the present disclosure provides a faster and more efficient assembly of photo-patterned hydrogel-containing multiwell plate designs.
Most tissues in the body are viscoelastic with a Young's modulus ranging from 0.1-100 kPa for soft tissues and in the MPa range (˜2-20 MPa) for very stiff tissues such as bone and articular cartilage; yet, most in vitro cell research is conducted on tissue culture polystyrene (TCP) which has a modulus of ˜1 GPa. To understand the implication of this stiffness mismatch, in the past two decades a growing body of research has been dedicated to elucidating the effect of substrate compliance on cell behavior. Various hydrogels spanning a wide range of stiffness have thus been developed to aid the deciphering of stiffness-dependent cell biology including polyacrylamide (PA), polyethylene glycol (PEG), polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS), and alginate. Much research involving stiffness modulated cell responses utilizes polyacrylamide (PA) gels which are readily available, inexpensive and simple to implement and, most importantly, can be prepared in a physiologically relevant range of Young's modulus, namely 0.3-300 kPa, encompassing both soft and some stiff tissues.
Currently, hydrogels are mostly prepared in small batches because the preparation protocols are time and labor intensive. Several groups have attempted to produce hydrogels for cell culture in a semi high-throughput format. Developed methods include cutting gels from a thick gel sheet, which is technically challenging for soft gels, cutting gels from a gel sheet pre-adhered to a flexible plastic support, which can accommodate gels of any stiffness, or sandwiching gel pre-cursor solution with a custom coverglass array directly into a well plate. While these methods allow for hydrogel assembly in a multiwell plate format that is not possible by traditional methods, the above techniques are still time consuming, labor intensive and technically challenging.
Accordingly, there exists a need for alternative systems and methods for preparing hydrogels for cell culture in a semi high-throughput format.